Calibration audit: who would advocate for you today?

Run your Calibration Audit Start by identifying three to five senior leaders who could influence your next move.   That might include your manager, your skip-level leader, executives you work with, senior cross-functional stakeholders, or people who participate in talent and succession conversations.   For each person, your goal is to figure out where they sit on this scale:   0: They know me They recognize my name and generally know what I do.   1: They know my work They can speak specifically about my scope, contributions, and business impact.   2: They believe I’m ready They have seen enough evidence to believe I can operate successfully at the next level.   3: They would advocate for me They would actively make the case for my advancement, recommend me for opportunities, or defend my readiness if someone challenged it. But don’t score them based on instinct.   Use these three questions to decide where they really belong.   1. Do they know enough about my work to make a case? Not simply, “Do they know who I am?” Could they explain what you own, the problems you solve, the business impact you have created, how your scope has grown, and why your work matters to the company?   If the answer is no, you probably don’t have an advocacy problem yet. You have a visibility problem.   They cannot make a compelling case with information they don’t have.   2. Have they seen evidence that I’m ready for the next level? Strong performance in your current role is not the same as confidence that you can succeed in the next one.   Would this person have examples of you demonstrating the things that matter at the next level?   Strategic judgment. Influence across teams. Leadership beyond your immediate scope. The ability to make decisions with incomplete information. The ability to connect your work to broader business priorities.   The specific criteria will vary by company and role, but the principle is the same.   If they know your accomplishments but have only seen you execute extremely well, they may respect you without seeing you as ready. That is a perception gap.   3. Would they actually put their credibility behind me? This is the hardest question. Would they say: “I think she’s ready.”   Would they recommend you for an opportunity before you knew it existed? Would they push back if someone questioned your readiness? Would they make the case for you instead of simply staying neutral?   That is advocacy. And it is a much higher bar than being respected.   Now look at the pattern Once you score each person, don’t just count the 3s. Look at where people are getting stuck.   If several influential people are sitting at 0, you have a visibility problem. If they know your work but what they know does not support your next-level story, you have a positioning problem. If they respect your work but have not seen enough evidence that you can operate at the next level, you have a readiness or perception problem. If they believe you are ready but are not actively advocating for you, you have an advocacy problem. And if your manager is your only 3, you have a concentration problem.   That last one matters more than it looks.   Your manager should advocate for you, but they should not be the only person capable of making your case.   The strongest promotion cases have multiple voices reinforcing the same story from different parts of the business. Think of it like getting five-star reviews in real life to get a ‘yes’ from the room.   What can you change in the next 30 to 60 days? You do not need five new sponsors. You need to deliberately move one or two important relationships up the scale.   Start with someone who has real influence and is currently sitting at a 0, 1, or 2.   Then ask: What would this person need to know, see, or understand to move one level higher? If they are at 0, create meaningful exposure.   That could mean presenting your recommendation instead of having your manager do it, sending a concise update after an important milestone, joining a cross-functional initiative, or getting closer to a business priority they already care about.   The goal is not to “get more visibility.” It is to help them understand your contribution and your value.   If they are at 1, focus on the story they currently have about you.   Ask yourself: If this person described me in a calibration meeting today, what would they say?   Then compare that to what someone would need to say to justify your next promotion.   If they see you as a strong operator but the next role requires more strategic leadership, find opportunities where they can see you shaping direction, making tradeoffs, or influencing decisions.   If they see you as a deep expert but the next role requires enterprise leadership, create evidence that you can operate across teams and priorities.   You cannot talk someone into seeing you at the next level. You show them with evidence.   If they are at 2, make your ambition explicit. A lot of leaders assume senior leaders know they want a promotion.   They often don’t. You do not need to ask: “Will you advocate for my promotion?”   Instead, you can say something like: “I’m working toward a VP role over the next couple of years, and I’m intentionally trying to build more enterprise-level experience. I’d value your perspective on what you think I still need to demonstrate.”   That conversation tells them where you are going and gives you useful information about whether they see you getting there.   Then keep building the relationship through repeated experiences, not one awkward sponsorship ask.   Because advocacy is rarely created in a single conversation. It is built when someone has seen enough of your work, judgment, and potential that they feel confident saying: “I know what she can do, and I’m willing to bet on her doing more.”

Your Next Steps Take ten minutes this week and run the audit. List the three to five people who could influence your next promotion. Score each one from 0 to 3 using the three questions above.